MADISON, Wis.  – The sixth-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team started the postseason off with a 3-0 win against Minnesota State in a WCHA First Round Playoff showdown Friday night at LaBahn Arena. 

Kirsten Simms, Caroline Harvey and Sarah Wozniewicz each lit the lamp as the Badgers (24-9-2) took down the Mavericks (15-19-1) in the first game of playoffs. 

After a 0-0 first period, Simms got the Badgers on the board with a tally from the blue line just 2:49 into the second period. 

Harvey followed up with a goal of her own before Wozniewicz tapped one in to extend the lead to 3-0. 

UW dominated the third period, outshooting MSU 18-5 to close out the win. 

Cami Kronish saved all 21 shots she faced for her seventh shutout of the season. 

Three Notes of the Game
- The Badgers improved to 15-1 in WCHA postseason games at LaBahn Arena, outscoring opponents 70-7.
- Caroline Harvey's 11 goals this year are tied for the seventh-most by a defender in school history. Harvey now has 35 points, which is tied for the second most by a Badger rookie blueliner as only Sis Paulsen had more points her rookie season (44). 
-  The Badgers outshot Minnesota State 42-21 and improved to 15-1-1 when they have 40 or more shots on net.

Straight From The Rink
Head Coach Mark Johnson
On lessons learned from Friday's win:
"You have to have good discipline this time of the year, I talked to them about that in between the second and third period… They are learning opportunities for our group moving forward to tomorrow's game and we need to try and correct some of the things that maybe didn't go well today. We need to come out tomorrow in that first period and establish some things and play the way we played the third period."

On improving as the game went on: 
"We got better as we went along and when we scored the first goal that just relaxes everybody. Now you can play up to your potential which we did in the second half of the game."

Senior Cami Kronish
On the intensity of tonight's game:
"The more you play a team, the more you get to know their tendencies. I think there was just a little bit more intensity today. They're playing for their season and so are we, so everybody has a little extra to give. We knew they were going to come out of the gates strong so we had to match that."

Freshman Kirsten Simms
On getting the Badgers on the board:
"It calmed us down as a whole. We were struggling a little bit in the first, but coming out and getting that goal and then popping in a few more got the energy up on the bench. Then we knew that we could just take the game over and it was going to be ours."

Up Next: The Badgers and Mavericks continue their WCHA First Round series on Saturday with a 3 p.m. contest at LaBahn Arena. Tickets are still available on UWBadgers.Com while fans that can't make it to LaBahn Arena can watch live on B1G+ while fans can also listen to the action on 100.9 FM. The winner of the series advances to the 2023 Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff, March 3-4, at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.